Semiconductor memory device for driving a word line

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor memory device for driving a word line is provided. The enabling timing of a word line is advanced using a block information signal that contains no redundancy information, thereby improving a RAS to CAS delay (tRCD). A sub word line driving enable signal for controlling a driving of a sub word line and a main word line driving enable signal for controlling a driving of a main word line are controlled by the block information signal that contains only mat information but does not contain the redundancy information. Accordingly, the word line control signal may be activated earlier than the sub word line driving enable signal and the main word line driving enable signal, thereby advancing the enable timing of the word line.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device; and,more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device for driving a wordline for improving an RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) by advancing an enabletiming of a word line.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ARTS

Generally, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) requires an address anda fuse box so as to drive word lines. Address delays can occur indetermining whether a normal word line or a redundant word line will beenabled.

If there is no fuse box, a sub wordline address LAX<0:7> for driving subword lines and a main wordline address LAX<8:71> for driving main wordlines can reach their respective mats (MAT) without time delay and aredecoded to enable the word lines. The mats (MAT) mean a plurality ofcell matrix regions, each being formed by a bit line and a bit line barfor making a voltage difference.

However, since the DRAM uses the redundancy, the fuse box is required.The delay time inevitably occurs in determining which one of the normalword line and the redundant word line will be enabled.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a control signal generator 10 of therelated arts. Control signal generator 10 includes a plurality ofinverters IV1 to IV4 and a plurality of NAND gates ND1 to ND3.

The first NAND gate ND1 performs a NAND operation on addresses LAX9A andLAXBC. The second inverter IV2 inverts an output of the first NAND gateND1. The first inverter IV1 inverts a normal word line enable signalNXEB. The second NAND gate ND2 performs a NAND operation on an output ofthe first inverter IV1 and an output of the second inverter IV2. Thethird NAND gate ND3 performs a NAND operation on a redundant enablesignal XHITB and an output of the NAND gate ND2. The third inverter IV3inverts an output of the third NAND gate ND3 to output a block selectsignal BSB. The fourth inverter IV4 inverts the output of the secondNAND gate ND2 to output a normal word line control signal NXEN.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a driving controller 20 of the relatedarts. The driving controller 20 includes a plurality of inverters IV5 toIV16, a plurality of NAND gates ND4 to ND7, PMOS transistors P1 and P2,and NMOS transistors N1 and N2.

Each of fifth and sixth inverters IV5 and IV6 inverts the block selectsignal BSB and a second active control signal R2ACB, respectively. Thefourth NAND gate ND4 performs a NAND operation on an output of the fifthinverter IV5 and an output of the sixth inverter IV6.

The first PMOS transistor P1 and the first NMOS transistor N1 areconnected in series between a pumping voltage (VPP) terminal and aground voltage (VSS) terminal. The second PMOS transistor P2 and thesecond NMOS transistor N2 are connected in series between the VPPterminal and the VSS terminal. Gates of the first and second PMOStransistors P1 and P2 are cross-coupled. The first NMOS transistor N1has a gate receiving an output of the seventh inverter IV7, and thesecond NMOS transistor N2 has a gate receiving an output of the eighthinverter IV8.

The ninth and tenth inverters IV9 and IV10 delay an output of a node Ain a non-inverting way to output a word line control signal WLOFFB. Theeleventh inverter IV11 inverts a first active control signal R1ACB. Thefifth NAND gate ND5 performs a NAND operation on an output of theeleventh inverter IV11 and the normal word line control signal NXEN. Thetwelfth and thirteenth inverters IV12 and IV13 delay the output of theeleventh inverter IV11 in a non-inverting way. The eleventh inverterIV11 inverts the first active control signal R1ACB.

The sixth NAND gate ND6 performs a NAND operation on the signal of thenode A and an output of the inverter IV13. The fifteenth inverter IV15inverts an output of the sixth NAND gate ND6 to output a driving enablesignal XDEC_EN. The fourteenth inverter IV14 inverts an output of thefifth NAND gate ND5. The seventh NAND ND7 performs a NAND operation onthe signal of the node A and an output of the fourteenth inverter IV14.The sixteenth inverter IV16 inverts an output of the seventh NAND gateND7 to output a main word line driving enable signal MWD_EN.

In the word line driver of the related arts, the timing of enabling theword line is determined by how fast the driving enable signal XDEC_ENand the main word line driving enable signal MWD_EN are enabled.

That is, the driving enable signal XDEC_EN and the main word linedriving enable signal MWD_EN are controlled by the voltage level of thenode A. At this point, by controlling the driving enable signal XDEC_ENand the main word line driving enable signal MWD_EN according to thevoltage level of the node A, the word line address LAX<0:7> or LAX<8:71>are activated later than the word line control signal WLOFFB. Therefore,signal collision between the main word line driver and the sub word linedriver can be prevented.

The voltage level of the node A is determined by the block select signalBSB. The block select signal BSB is controlled by the normal word lineenable signal NXEB for deactivating the normal word line during aredundancy operation, the redundant enable signal XHITB for enabling thecorresponding redundant line, and the addresses LAX9A and LAXBCcontaining mat information. Therefore, to replace the normal word line,the redundancy disposed at other mats can be flexibly used.

In the word line driver of the related arts, however, the normal wordline enable signal NXEB is enabled later than the addresses LAX9A andLAXBC. Therefore, the block select signal BSB is enabled late and thevoltage level of the node A is changed late. In this case, since thedriving enable signal XDEC_EN and the word line driving enable signalMWD_EN are enabled late, the enabling time of the word line is delayed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide asemiconductor memory device for driving a word line that may improve anRAS to CAS delay (tRCD) by advancing enable timing of a word line usinga block signal having no redundancy information.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a semiconductormemory device for driving a word line includes: a control signalgenerator for generating a block information signal by logicallycombining first and second addresses containing mat information, andoutputting a normal word line control signal activated during an activeoperation by logically combining the block information signal and anormal word line enable signal; a driving control signal generator forgenerating a word line control signal by logically combining the blockinformation signal, a first active control signal, and a redundantenable signal; a driving enable signal generator for generating a mainword line driving enable signal and a sub word line driving enablesignal by logically combining the normal word line control signal and asecond active control signal which does not contain redundancyinformation; and a main/sub word line driving controller for generatinga main word line driving signal by combining the main word line drivingenable signal and addresses for driving the main word lines, andgenerating a sub word line driving signal by combining the sub word linedriving enable signal and addresses for driving the sub word lines, whenthe word line control signal is activated.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, asemiconductor memory device for driving a word line includes: a fuse boxfor receiving a row address and outputting a normal word line enablesignal and a redundant enable signal; a plurality of mats, each forreceiving the normal word line enable signal, the redundant enablesignal, a sub word line address for driving the sub word lines, a mainword line address for driving the main word lines and first and secondaddresses containing mat information, and outputting a main word linedriving signal and a sub word line driving signal; and a sub word linedriver for controlling the driving of the sub word lines based on themain word line driving signal and the sub word line driving signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description of the preferredembodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a control signal generator of the relatedarts;

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a driving controller of the related arts;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a word line driver in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a control signal generator of the wordline driver illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of a driving signal generator of the wordline driver illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of a main/sub word line driving controllerof the word line driver illustrating in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a sub word line driver circuit shown inFIG. 3; and

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram for the signals used in the word line driverin accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A semiconductor memory device for driving a word line in accordance withexemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a word line driver in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the word line driver includes a fuse box 100, aplurality of mats 200 to 400, and a plurality of sub word line drivercircuits 500.

The fuse box 100 receives row addresses BXAR<2:12> to output a normalword line enable signal NXEB and a redundant enable signal groupXHITB<0:15>. The fuse box 100 is provided with sixteen sub fuse boxes.

The first mat 200 receives the normal word line enable signal NXEB, afirst redundant enable signal XHITB<0> of the redundant enable signalgroup XHITB<0:15>, a sub word line address LAX<0:7> for driving the subword lines, a main word line address LAX<8:71> for driving the main wordlines, and addresses LAX9A<0> and LAXBC<0> containing mat informationand outputs main word line driving signals MWLB<0:63> and sub word linedriving signals FXB0<0:7>.

The other mats 300 and 400 include sixteen mats receiving acorresponding redundant enable signal of the redundant enable signalsXHITB<1:15>. Since each of the mats 300 and 400 has the sameconstruction as that of the first mat 200, a detailed descriptionthereof will be omitted.

The sub word line driver circuits 500 control the driving of the subword lines SWL based on the main word line driving signals MWLB<0:63>and the sub word line driving signals FXB0<0:7>.

Each of the mats 200 to 400 includes a control signal generator, adriving signal generator, and a main/sub word line driving controller.

Hereinafter, a detailed circuit diagram of the first mat 200 will bedescribed.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the control signal generator 210 of theword line driver 200 illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 4, the control signal generator 210 includes aplurality of inverters IV17 to IV20 and a plurality of NAND gates ND8 toND10.

The first NAND gate ND8 performs a NAND operation on the addresses LAX9Aand LAXBC. The first inverter IV17 inverts an output of the first NANDgate ND8 to output a block information signal BS_NEW. The secondinverter IV18 inverts the normal word line enable signal NXEB. Thesecond NAND gate ND9 performs a NAND operation on an output of firstinverter IV17 and an output of the second inverter IV18. The third NANDgate ND10 performs a NAND operation on the redundant enable signal XHITBand an output of the second NAND gate ND9. The third inverter IV19inverts an output of the third NAND gate ND10 to output the block selectsignal BSB. The fourth inverter IV20 inverts the output of the secondNAND gate ND9 to output the normal word line control signal NXEN.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of the driving signal generator 220 of theword line driver 200 illustrated in FIG. 3.

The driving signal generator 220 includes a driving control signalgenerating unit 221 and a driving enable signal generating unit 222.

The driving control signal generating unit 221 includes a plurality ofinverters IV21 to IV24, a plurality of NAND gates ND11 and ND12, firstand second PMOS transistors P3 and P4, and first and second NMOStransistors N3 and N4.

The first inverter IV21 inverts a second active control signal R2ACB.The first NAND gate ND11 performs a NAND operation on the blockinformation signal BS_NEW and an output of the first inverter IV21. Thesecond NAND gate ND12 performs a NAND operation on the redundant enablesignal XHITB and an output of the first NAND gate ND11.

The first PMOS transistor P3 and the first NMOS transistor N3 areconnected in series between a pumping voltage (VPP) terminal and aground voltage (VSS) terminal. The second PMOS transistor P4 and thesecond NMOS transistor N4 are connected in series between the VPPterminal and the VSS terminal. Gates of the first and second PMOStransistors P3 and P4 are cross-coupled. The first NMOS transistor N3has a gate receiving an output of the second NAND gate ND12, and thesecond NMOS transistor N4 has a gate receiving an output of the secondinverter IV22 which inverts the output of the second NAND gate ND12. Thethird and fourth inverters IV23 and IV24 delay a signal at a node D in anon-inverting way to output a word line control signal WLOFFB.

The driving enable signal generating unit 222 includes a plurality ofinverters IV25 to IV28 and a NAND gate ND13.

The fifth inverter IV25 inverts a first active control signal R1ACB. Thethird NAND gate ND13 performs a NAND operation on an output of the fifthinverter IV25 and the normal word line control signal NXEN. The sixthand seventh inverters IV26 and IV27 delay an output of the fifthinverter IV25 in a non-inverting way to output a driving enable signalXDEC_EN. The eighth inverter IV28 inverts an output of the third NANDgate ND13 to output a main word line driving enable signal MWD_EN.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of the main/sub word line driving controller230 of the word line driver 200 illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 6, the main/sub word line driving controller 230includes first and second NAND gates ND14 and ND15, a plurality ofinverters IV29 to IV34, a plurality of PMOS transistors P5 to P8, andfirst and second NMOS transistors N5 and N6.

The first NAND gate ND14 performs a NAND operation on the main word lineaddress LAX<8:71> and the main word line driving enable signal MWD_EN.The first inverter IV29 inverts an output of the first NAND gate ND14 tooutput an intermediate address BAX<0:63>.

The first PMOS transistor P5 and the first NMOS transistor N5 areconnected in series between the VPP terminal and the VSS terminal. Thefirst PMOS transistor P5 has a gate receiving the word line controlsignal WLOFFB and the first NMOS transistor N5 has a gate receiving theintermediate main word line address BAX<0:63>. The second PMOStransistor P6 is connected between the VPP terminal and a node G. Thesecond PMOS transistor P6 has a gate receiving an output of the secondinverter IV30 which receives and inverts a signal at the node G. Thethird inverter IV31 inverts the output of the second inverter IV30 tooutput the main word line driving signals MWLB<0:63>.

The second NAND gate ND15 performs a NAND operation on the sub word lineaddress LAX<0:7> and the driving enable signal XDEC_EN. The fourthinverter IV32 inverts an output of the second NAND gate ND15 to outputan intermediate sub word line address BAX<0:7>.

The third PMOS transistor P7 and the second NMOS transistor N6 areconnected in series between the VPP terminal and the VSS terminal. Thethird PMOS transistor P7 has a gate receiving the word line controlsignal WLOFFB, and the second NMOS transistor N6 has a gate receivingthe intermediate sub word line address BAX<0:7>. The fourth PMOStransistor P8 is connected between the VPP terminal and a node H. ThePMOS transistor P8 has a gate receiving an output of the fifth inverterIV33 which inverts a signal at node H. The sixth inverter IV34 invertsan output of the fifth inverter IV33 to output the sub word line drivingsignal FXB<0:7>.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of the sub word line driver circuit 500shown in FIG. 3.

The sub word line driver circuit 500 includes an inverter IV35, a PMOStransistor P9, first and second NMOS transistors N7 and N8.

The inverter IV35 inverts the sub word line driving signals FXB<0:7>.The PMOS transistor P9 and the first NMOS transistor N7 are connected inseries between an output terminal of the inverter IV35 and the VSSterminal. A gate of the PMOS transistor P9 and a gate of the first NMOStransistor N7 are commonly connected and receive the main word linedriving signals MWLB<0:63>. The second NMOS transistor N8 is connectedbetween a node I and the VSS terminal. The second NMOS transistor N8 hasa gate receiving the sub word line driving signal FXB<0:7>.

Operation of the word line driver in accordance with the presentinvention will be described below with reference to FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a timing diagram illustrating the signals used in the wordline driver in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 8, theterm “old” corresponds to the related arts arrangement and the term“new” corresponds to the claimed invention.

The fuse box 100 selectively outputs the normal word line enable signalNXEB and the redundant enable signal group XHITB<0:15> according to therow address BXAR<2:12>. That is, which one of the normal word line andthe redundant word line that will be enabled is determined according tothe cutting of sixteen fuses in the fuse box 100, and the normal wordline enable signal NXEB or the redundant enable signal group XHITB<0:15>is output.

The first mat 200 among the mats 200 to 400 receives the normal wordline enable signal NXEB, the first redundant enable signal XHITB<0> ofthe redundant enable signal group XHITB<0:15>, the sub word line addressLAX<0:7>, the main word line address LAX<8:71>, and the addressesLAX9A<0> and LAXBC<0> and outputs the main word line driving signalsMWLB<0:63> and the sub word line driving signals FXB0<0:7>.

The control signal generator 210 generates the block information signalBS_NEW by NANDing the addresses LAX9A and LAXBC that contain only matinformation but do not contain the redundant information, without regardto the normal word line enable signal NXEB and the redundant enablesignal XHITB.

The driving signal generator 220 outputs the word line control signalWLOFFB by logically combining the block information signal BS_NEW, thesecond active control signal R2ACB, and the redundant enable signalXHITB activated during a redundant operation.

In this case, when the redundant word line is activated, the word linecontrol signal WLOFFB for controlling the normal word line is alsoactivated. That is, when the redundant word lines of different mats areenabled, the word line control signal WLOFFB corresponding to theoriginal mat is also enabled. However, since the main word line drivingenable signal MWD_EN maintains a disabled state, the activation of thenormal word line causes no problems in the logic.

The driving enable signal XDEC_EN and the main word line enable signalMWD_EN are generated by logically combining the first active controlsignal R1ACB and the normal word line control signal NXEN, which do notcontain the redundancy information. That is, the driving enable signalXDEC_EN is controlled according to the first active control signalR1ACB. The main word line driving enable signal MWD_EN is controlledaccording to the normal word line control signal NXEN and the firstactive control signal R1ACB, which are activated during an activeoperation and a precharge operation, respectively.

Therefore, the word line control signal WLOFFB is activated earlier thanthe driving enable signal XDEC_EN and the main word line driving enablesignal MWD_EN. Consequently, the driving signal generator 220 mayadvance the enabling of the word line by activating the driving enablesignal XDEC_EN and the main word line driving enable signal MWD_EN, andthe word line control signal WLOFFB early.

The main/sub word line driving controller 230 logically combines themain word line address LAX<8:71> and the sub word line address LAX<0:7>,the driving enable signal XDEC_EN, and the main word line driving enablesignal MWD_EN, and outputs the main word line driving signals MWLB<0:63>and the sub word line driving signals FXB<0:7> according to the wordline control signal WLOFFB. Accordingly, the enabling timing of the wordline may be advanced by about 500 ps compared with the related arts.

As described above, the enabling timing of the word line may be advancedby controlling the sub word line driver and the main word line driveraccording to the redundant enable signal and the block informationsignal that contains only the block information but does not contain theredundancy information, thereby improving the RAS to CAS delay (tRCD).

The present application contains subject matter related to Korean patentapplication Nos. 2005-91692 & 2005-124566, filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Sep. 29, 2005 & Dec. 16, 2005, theentire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

While the present invention has been described with respect to certainpreferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat various changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

1-13. (canceled)
 14. A word line driver, comprising: a fuse box forreceiving a row address and outputting a normal word line enable signaland a redundant enable signal; a plurality of mats, each for receivingthe normal word line enable signal, the redundant enable signal, a subword line address for driving the sub word lines, a main word lineaddress for driving the main word lines and first and second addressescontaining mat information, and outputting a main word line drivingsignal and a sub word line driving signal; and a sub word line driverfor controlling the driving of the sub word lines based on the main wordline driving signal and the sub word line driving signal.
 15. The wordline driver as recited in claim 14, wherein the fuse box includes aplurality of sub fuse boxes corresponding to the number of mats.
 16. Theword line driver as recited in claim 14, wherein each mat includes: acontrol signal generator for generating a block information signal bylogically combining the first and second addresses, and outputting anormal word line control signal activated during an active operation bylogically combining the block information signal and the normal wordline enable signal; a driving signal generator for generating a wordline control signal, a main word line driving enable signal and a subword line driving enable signal by logically combining the blockinformation signal, the redundant enable signal, the normal word linecontrol signal and first and second active control signal; and amain/sub word line driving controller for generating the main word linedriving signal by combining the main word line driving enable signal andthe main word line address, and generating the sub word line drivingsignal by combining the sub word line driving enable signal and the subword line address, when the word line control signal is activated. 17.The word line driver as recited in claim 16, wherein the driving signalgenerator includes: a driving control signal generator for generatingthe word line control signal by logically combining the blockinformation signal, the first active control signal, and the redundantenable signal; and a driving enable signal generator for generating themain word line driving enable signal and the sub word line drivingenable signal by logically combining the normal word line control signaland the second active control signal which does not contain redundancyinformation.
 18. The word line driver as recited in claim 16, whereinthe word line control signal is activated earlier than the sub word linedriving enable signal and the main word line driving enable signal. 19.The word line driver as recited in claim 16, wherein the main word linedriving enable signal maintains a disable state when a redundant wordline is activated in response to the redundant enable signal.
 20. Theword line driver as recited in claim 16, wherein the second activecontrol signal is activated during a precharge operation.